Posted on 29-6-2004
Greening
Ethiopia For Self-Sufficiency
Famines and Ethiopia and other African countries have become
irrevocably
linked in the public mind since Bob Geldof’s Live Aid
Concert in the
1980s. In 2002, we carried the first and only report (Science
in Society
#16) on how Ethiopia is determined to feed herself. In this
present
exclusive mini-series, we update the entire story of the remarkable
successes achieved in reviving the traditional farming practice
of pit
composting that has now convinced Ethiopia to adopt organic
agriculture
for the entire country.
Greening Ethiopia
Sue Edwards reports on the challenges and opportunities facing
Ethiopia as
steps are taken to reverse the ecological and social damages
that have
locked the country in poverty.
Challenges
Ethiopia is a land-locked country in the ‘Horn of Africa’
to the northeast
of Africa. Its topography is very diverse, encompassing mountains
over
4000 m above sea level, high plateaus, deep gorges cut by rivers
and arid
lowlands including the Afar Depression 110 m below sea level.
The South Westerly is one of the country’s three moisture-bearing
wind
systems. Originating from the South Atlantic, it brings the
greatest
amount of moisture during the wet season (June–August).
The mean annual
rainfall is highest (above 2 700 mm) in the southwestern highlands,
gradually decreasing to below 200 mm in the southeastern lowlands,
and to
100 mm or less in the northeastern lowlands. The mean temperature
ranges
from a high of 45°C (April–September) in the Afar
Depression to 0°C or
lower at night in the highlands (November-February).
Ethiopia’s population was 53.48 million in 1994, of which
86.3 percent was
rural. It grew at the rate of 2.9 percent per annum between
1984 and 1994;
by 2003, it was estimated to have exceeded 67 million and could
reach 94.5
million by 2015. The population has an average age of just 21.8
years,
with 44% under 15 years and the group 15 to 25 years making
up more than
20%. School enrolment has increased, but the literacy rate remains
about
35%. There is a high dependency ratio and although official
unemployment
is around 3%, it exceeds 30% in the urban youth, while under-employment
is
widespread in the rural population.
The country currently faces a number of environmental challenges
resulting
directly or indirectly from human activities, exacerbated by
rapid
population growth and the consequent increase in the exploitation
of
natural resources. The challenges range from land degradation
to
environmental pollution, due to the misguided application of
chemicals in
agriculture, for domestic purposes or for the manufacture of
industrial
products. Ethiopia has accumulated one of the largest stockpiles
of
obsolete pesticides in the continent, estimated to be around
3000 tonnes
in 2003. The misuse of natural resources includes burning dung
as fuel,
instead of using it as a soil conditioner. Losses to crop production
from
burning dung and soil erosion are estimated at over 600,000
tonnes
annually, or twice the average yearly requests for food aid.
Opportunities
Ethiopia is one of the least developed countries in the world,
and its
economy rests mainly on agriculture. It accounts for more than
75 percent
of total exports, over 85 percent of employment; and about 45
percent of
the GDP (gross domestic product). Coffee alone makes up more
than 87
percent of the total agricultural exports. Hides and skins are
the next
most important export items, as raw, processed or manufactured
goods.
Several seasonal and perennial crops are grown. The main ones
are cereals
(tef, barley, maize, wheat, sorghum, oats and finger millet),
root crops
(enset, Irish, sweet and indigenous potatoes, taro, yams), pulses
(horse
bean, fenugreek, field pea, haricot bean, chickpea, grass pea
and lentil),
oil crops (niger seed, linseed, safflower, rapeseed, groundnut,
safflower
and sesame), vegetables (cabbage, tomato, hot peppers, pumpkin,
onions and
garlic) and many herbs and spices. The major cash and industrial
crops are
coffee, tea, citrus, papaya, banana, avocado, mango, oil seeds,
pulses,
cotton, sisal, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, spices, sugar cane
and chat
(also called mira).
Agriculture is one of the key sectors in which to devote efforts
in
accelerating socio-economic development and reducing poverty.
Problems of chemical inputs
The Sasakawa Global 2000 (SG-2000) programme was started by
the Ministry
of Agriculture in 1995 to boost food crop production through
a focused
campaign to get farmers to use chemical fertilizer along with
high
yielding varieties (HYVs) and pesticides. However, it promoted
only the
adoption of fertilizer through credit schemes and subsidized
prices. Prior
to 1995, Ethiopia had one of the lowest per capita uses of fertilizer
in
the world. Under SG-2000, farmers were allowed to select and
use the best
of their own local varieties rather than buy seed of HYVs. Very
little use
of pesticides has developed except for dealing with migratory
pests,
particularly armyworm, and local swarms such as Pachnoda beetles
on
sorghum and the endemic Wello Bush Cricket on cereals.
Since 1998, the subsidy on fertilizer has been withdrawn while
the price
of fertilizer has risen. Despite that, by 2001, around 5% of
the
smallholder farmers of the country, particularly those growing
maize, had
become accustomed to using fertilizer. But that year, the price
dropped
out of the bottom of the maize market and the farm gate price
in some
areas fell to the equivalent of US$1.50 per 100 kg of maize.
In 2002, many farmers were heavily in debt and withdrew from
the
fertilizer schemes. Many parts of the country were also hit
by drought
with the result that yields declined, or crops failed completely
and the
government requested food aid for more than 14 million people,
nearly a
quarter of the total population.
Expanding horticultural production is making increasing use
of chemical
inputs, often with little or no understanding of either how
to handle
those chemicals safely, or how to use them correctly. For example,
a
survey by the local Safe Environment Association and PAN-UK
(Pesticides
Action Network, UK) found malathion being sprayed on the leaves
of the
local stimulant, chat (Catha edulis), in order to make them
shiny and more
attractive to purchasers. Another group of farmers had been
using DDT to
control insect pests on chat until they associated increasing
stomach
problems with the use of the chemical.
The use of agrochemicals in smallholder agriculture is rapidly
increasing;
and this is in addition to the substantial amounts already deployed
on the
few large-scale farms, particularly cotton farms. The misuse
of pesticides
and fertilizers is damaging human health and polluting the surrounding
environment.
Greening Ethiopia
In 2002, the Ethiopian government issued a new policy guideline
on Rural
Development and set up a supra-ministry to coordinate activities.
The
Rural Development policy guideline regards environmental rehabilitation
as
an essential factor in increasing productivity.
The Environmental Policy of Ethiopia has incorporated a basic
principle
similar to one adopted in organic agriculture: "Ensure
that essential
ecological processes and life support systems are sustained,
biological
diversity is preserved and renewable natural resources are used
in such a
way that their regenerative and productive capabilities are
maintained,
and, where possible, enhanced...; where this capacity is already
impaired
to seek through appropriate interventions a restoration of that
capability."
Key elements of the policy cover soil husbandry and sustainable
agriculture, and can support the development of more specific
policy and
regulations for organic agriculture. These include promoting
the use of
appropriate organic matter and nutrient management for improving
soil
structure, nutrient status and microbiology; maintaining traditional
integration of crop and animal husbandry in the highlands, and
enhancing
the role of pastoralists in the lowlands; promoting water conservation;
focusing agricultural research and extension on farming and
land use
systems as a whole, with attention to peculiarities of local
conditions;
promoting agroforestry/farm forestry; ensuring that potential
costs of
soil degradation through erosion, chemical degradation and pollution
are
taken into account; shifting the emphasis in crop breeding to
composites
and multi-lines to increase adaptability to environmental changes
and to
better resist pests and diseases; using biological and cultural
methods,
resistant or tolerant varieties or breeds, and integrated pest
and disease
management in preference to chemical controls; and applying
the
precautionary principle in making decisions.
This enabling policy context dovetails with a unique experiment
in
sustainable development and ecological land management conducted
with
farmers in Tigray.
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